Kitimat lottery winner is Kirk Grossmann

Grossmann was in Vancouver collecting his winnings on Nov. 8, a happy side quest for his and his wife’s previously planned trip to the city.

The fact he won was kept a secret from even his closest family until he knew for sure the money was coming his way.

“You want to make sure it’s true before you go around talking about it,” Grossmann told the Sentinel from the Vancouver lottery office.

His reaction to seeing his numbers on one of the MaxMillions draws was at first shock.

“My first thought was the Mayan calendar was correct and there’s probably only a month left to spend it.”

A frequent Lotto player and resident of Kitimat for 37 years, Grossmann said that the money will go to pay off the mortgage with the rest going straight to the bank.

“We’re going to put it in the bank and spend time thinking about what we’re going to do,” he said.

Even splurging on a trip is unnecessary for him and his family — they already had booked and paid for a Mexico trip that is coming up soon.

The ticket was bought at the Ol’ Keg Pub on Halloween night.

“I heard on the Saturday morning that someone in town had won,” said Grossmann in a release from the BC Lottery Corporation. “I guess everyone in Kitimat was also checking their tickets because the website was so slow.”

Grossmann wasn’t the only northerner to win a prize; a ticket sold in the Bulkley Valley area is worth $25 million. The winner has yet to come forward.